Sworn to Slice of Life
by HikariOni22
Summary: You wanted slice of life? No? Well you're getting it anyway [spoilers for StP & StR]
1. What Goes Up Must Come Down

"Akio, you have to hide me!"

Leiko crashed against her husband, fists on his chest and a panicked look on her face. He looked puzzled.

"What?"

"I'm serious. You have to hide me."

Eyebrow raised, Akio awaited an explanation. Leiko gave an exasperated sigh.

"Wait."

She looked around, a little frantically, seemingly searching for something (or someone) in the crowd. Akio silently watched her.

"Okay, look. Haru told me a Guild official dropped by our camp while I wasn't there, and asked to see me. When he asked them what about, they said it had something to do with my registration."

"So... What's the problem?"

"Don't you understand?!"

Sharply, she grabbed his arms and began to shake him.

"I never told them I lied about my age when I first came into the Guild! They've figured it out!"

Akio remained calm as she shook him with growing vigour.

"Okay. And what do you think is going to happen?" he asked.

"They're gonna kick me out! I'll be jobless and homeless, I'll never be able to hunt again without being a criminal, and if you guys try to help me you'll be criminals as well! Nothing will ever be the same!"

She grew more distressed as she talked, until Akio could feel her fingers digging into his arms; he calmly, but firmly, put a hand on her shoulder. Pressing down gently, he got her to stop for a moment as she looked up to him.

"I think you're being a little dramatic. Do you really think they're going to kick one of the Ace Hunters out of the Guild?"

"YES!" she insisted, throwing her arms in the air. "You know how in love they are with their bureaucracy!"

"You are one of the best Hunters in the world. They're not going to kick you out," Akio assured. "I don't think anything short of murder would make them do that."

"Akio." Leiko suddenly wore a serious look, fatality sounding in her voice. "If someone figures out that one of the Ace Hunters lied to get into the Guild and there were no consequences, imagine the hit to the Guild's credibility. No one will ever follow their precious rules with the same assiduity. The entire Guild will crumble in on itself. They'll do anything to stop that!"

Dubitative, Akio raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Darling. I think you're being completely overdramatic."

He uncrossed his arms to offer a hand, and then gestured in the vague direction of the Guild Hall.

"We should just go down there ourselves, and figure out what they want with you. Chances are, they'll just have you change some of your identification, and that'll be that."

It was Leiko's turn to be doubtful, suspiciously eyeing Akio, then the Guild Hall, then Akio again.

"Are you suuure about that?"

He nodded.

"Fairly certain."

She stared at him, as if weighing her options.

"So you won't hide me to spare me from being cast out as a criminal."

He rolled his eyes.

"No, because that's not what's going to happen. But if it makes you feel better, if ever you are in danger of being thrown out of the Guild, I'll hide you all you want."

She crossed her arms, staring into him. Worry still tugged at the corner of her lips, and he couldn't help but feel – if not quite empathetic to what was clearly melodrama – a little bad. He reached for her hand which she gladly took.

"Well at least that's good to know."

He gave a small smile.

"Alright. Come on."

As they made their way through the streets, Leiko still somewhat nervously looked around the crowd, trying to spot what Akio assumed was a Guild official. He softly squeezed her hand to get her attention, and gave a half-smile to try and get her to calm down. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"You're probably right. It's probably nothing bad," she said.

It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than anything else, but Akio took the small victory.

Soon enough, the Guild Hall came into view, bustling with activity. Leiko seemed to grow more nervous. They entered the hall, and saw someone discussing with the Guild Master. Patiently, they moved to the side, just within earshot of the conversation.

"... are you sure this is the right move? I mean, it's pretty minor, even if she _is_ part of the Ace Hunters."

The Guild Master wore a stern, dark look, and Leiko side-eyed Akio.

"Yes. It must be done. It's a shame to lose such a good element, but the rules must be followed, especially important ones such as this."

"... Fine. I will go and find the Ace Hammer wielder and inform her of our decision."

Fast as thunder itself, Leiko pushed Akio down to the ground, under a table, out of sight of the officials. She turned to Akio and scream-whispered:

"I told you they'd kick me out! Oh my god, what are we going to do?!"

Eyes wide, he looked to her, trying to remain calm.

"I'm sure we misunderstood. They can't possibly be doing this," he breathed.

"You can't possibly rationalize this away! I'm completely fucked!"

"Calm down. We'll find a way."

"Akio!" she gestured wildly. "If we go against this, we're criminals! What could we possibly do?!"

Akio adjusted his position with the clanging of his armour. Leiko looked daggers at him, and he threw his hands up slightly in protest. Gathering every ounce of calm in his body, he took a breath.

"Look. Lets not panic."

"What is there to not panic about?!"

"I don't know! But scream-whispering isn't going to solve our problem right now!" he scream-whispered.

"Then stop scream-whispering!"

"You're the one who's scream-whispering!"

"Well you are too!"

He opened his mouth to protest, but clasped it shut. He closed his eyes, and squeezed the bridge of his nose with one hand, keeping his balance with the other.

"Okay, okay. We should both calm down. First of all, under a table in the Guild Hall is a terrible place to hide."

"Well I did my best with the literal three seconds I had!" she seethed.

He held his free hand up, palm towards her, in a show of good faith.

"Yes, that was all we could do. I'm not saying you did bad."

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't brought me here!"

"Leiko. I'm being serious right now. Being at each other's throats is not going to help. We can work through this together."

She scrunched her nose, grit her teeth, took a sharp inhale, and then had a long sigh.

"Alright. You're right. Sorry."

"That's alright. I'm sorry too, for not believing you."

Her features softened a little.

"That's okay. You were starting to convince me either way."

He gave a small nod, acknowledgement rather than satisfaction. They lay there in silence for a short while, both thinking.

Suddenly, Leiko's eyes lit up lightly, and she held a finger up.

"I have an idea! But we have to sneak out of here first."

"Alright."

Slowly, they rose to their knees and crawled until they were out of sight of the Guild Master, at which point they rose to their feet and sprinted away.

Koyoko's attention snapped to the two Hunters, out of breath, who'd just loudly barrelled into her wagon.

"Uh, hi?" she tried.

"KYOKO!" they both exclaimed. "YOU NEED TO HIDE US!"

Eyebrows raised, Kyoko stared at them.

"... What?"

Leiko took a step towards the Kindred Hunter, clearly completely panicked.

"This is capital. Soon, we'll be criminals."

"... _What?_ "

The Ace grabbed Kyoko by the shoulders and looked straight into her eyes, despair seeping out of her every expression.

"Just tell me you'll hide us!"

Frightened by the clearly extremely severe situation, Kyoko put her hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright, okay! I'll hide you guys! But please tell me what's happening!"

Akio took a step forward, quickly looking out of the windows of the wagon to make sure no one was coming.

"The Guild figured out that Leiko lied about her age when she first joined, and now they want to kick her out."

Kyoko's eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up.

"Excuse me?"

Leiko shook her.

"We heard them! They said that it was a shame to lose such a good element!"

Kyoko flopped around a little.

"But that makes absolutely no sense! Why would they kick out one of the Ace Hunters for something so minor?"

"I know! But it's what they said!"

Kyoko took some time to take in the severity of the situation. But before she could even come to a decision or figure out a plan, Akio exclaimed:

"Leiko! He's coming!"

"Shit!"

Leiko dove behind Kyoko's item chest, and Akio slid behind the door to the wagon... except there wasn't a door. So he slid up against the wall and hoped the Guild official wouldn't look this way, camouflaging himself as much as possible with the drapes that served to close the entrance.

The Guild official walked up to the entrance, knocking thrice on the wagon's wall. The wagon creaked. Kyoko walked forward, pushing away the heavy curtain Akio wasn't hiding behind, and waved at the man standing there.

"Hello. Can I help you?"

As she peeked out of her own dwelling, the Guild official eyed her with confusion.

"Um, yes. I'm looking for Leiko, the Ace Hammer wielder? I've heard you might know where she is."

"Oh, sorry. I have no idea."

Furious whispering caught her attention; Kyoko quickly turned to see Leiko peeking out of hiding, gesturing Akio over to her while he held his arms out slightly, frantically mouthing something Kyoko couldn't quite get. She quickly turned her head back to the official, who suspiciously tried to look past her.

"So uh, yeah. Sorry. No clue where she might be. Bye!"

She tried to shove the drape back, but he stopped her.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nooo!" Kyoko said as she gestured to the opposite direction, "Not at all! You can go, don't let me keep you!"

The Guild official stared at her, dubitative as he took a step forward, almost pushing past her.

As she stepped back to let him in, left without a choice, she kicked Akio to grab his attention, and Leiko's as well. Seeing someone come in, Leiko quickly dove back to hiding. The man stepped in, having a look around.

There was a small, metallic noise, followed by a very quiet 'shit!'. The Guild official looked to Kyoko.

"Are you sure everything is alright?"

"Yes. Yes, definitely. Completely. Don't even worry about it. Seriously. You should go, there's absolutely no problem here."

She tried to push him out as she talked, but he remained steadfast, eyes locked on Kyoko's item chest.

"I'm serious!" she insisted. "I'm fine!"

He walked towards the chest, and Kyoko grabbed his arm. He turned back to her, in full view of the entrance, and looked straight to Akio. The Ace Commander froze.

"... Ace Commander...?" the Guild official tried.

"Oh, yes. Hello. I was just, uh... fixing the drapes."

He mimed whatever he could approximate as a 'fixing' motion.

"Well, maybe you'll be able to help me, then. I'm looking for Leiko."

Akio stopped what he was doing.

"Oh? You know, that's weird, I haven't seen her since this morning. I truly don't know where she might be."

The official took a step back.

"Really? Now that's strange. Well, it's very important that I talk to her, so when you do see her, could you please tell her to come by the Guild Hall?"

"Oh, of course- NO"

Akio held out a hand as the Guild official finally got to Kyoko's chest, stretching his neck to see behind it.

Leiko looked up.

"Oh. Hiiiiiiiii. I heard you were looking for me?"

He pursed his lips.

"Yes."

There was pause. A moment in which Leiko, looking into the eyes of the man who would ruin everything she had accomplished so far, all of the dreams she had worked towards, considered her options.

With a scream, she leaped to her feet, vaulted over the chest, and positioned herself between the Guild official and the door.

"You can't do this to me! I'm an Ace Hunter! Is such a small lie really a reason to throw me out of the Guild?!" she screamed, gesturing wildly.

The official raised an eyebrow.

"... What?"

Leiko paused.

"... you're not here to kick me out?"

"Of course not!"

The three hunters had a long sigh of relief, much to the Guild official's confusion.

"Um... I'm simply here to... wait a minute..."

He reached to his pack, where he searched around for a couple seconds before pulling out a large black scale, still shimmering.

"This is one of the scales from the Fatalis you defeated. As a member of the Ace Hunters, it is traditionally mandatory for you to have a Guild Card made out of the scale of an Elder Dragon. As such, the Guild is proud to bestow you this piece of our research collection for such a use."

"..."

Akio stepped out of the drapes.

"I think I'm gonna cry," Leiko stated.

The Guild official stepped forward and offered Leiko the scale sternly. Without hesitation, she took it.

"Thank you."

He stared at her for a moment.

"But, I have to wonder... What did you say about a lie?"

Leiko straightened up, moving around the man and pushing him towards the exit.

"Don't worry about it, I misspoke! You have a good day now!"

He looked over his shoulder at the Ace Hammer wielder, then glanced at the Commander, and then at the Kindred Hunter before giving a sigh and heading out.

"Have a nice day," he said as she left, softly shaking his head.

Alone again, Leiko collapsed with a thunk on the wooden floor of Kyoko's wagon.

"I can't believe what just happened."

Akio stepped to her and sat down besides her.

"We did misunderstand."

Kyoko just stood there, staring at them.

"Just a thought," she begun, "I'm like, the worst person to hide people. I'm a terrible liar."

"That's okay," Leiko assured, "You did your best."

"Uh, thanks?"

The Hammer wielder stared at the ceiling, and squeezed the scale between her fingers. She lifted her head to look at it.

"Cool scale, though," she said.

She let her head fall back to the floor with a thump.

"So, what are you going to put as your title?" Akio asked.

"How about 'I'm definitely twenty-three, don't even worry about it'?"

"I think 'Ace Hammer wielder' is a little better," Akio suggested, looking down at her with a smile tugging at his lips.

"Yeah," she smiled back. "You're right."

* * *

"Haru, why the hell did you say 'registration' instead of 'Guild Card'?"

"Aren't those the same thing?"

"... You have no idea the trouble you've caused."


	2. Twilight

When Eiji's death reached Kyoko, she stood and stared blankly for a moment. She didn't feel sad, not very much, and she hadn't known him enough to truly regret him.

Still, there was a strange pit in her stomach, a deep sense of loss she couldn't quite shake. She didn't understand it. It didn't make sense. So she just stood there for a short while after being left alone, and stared at a blank space on front of her while she tried to figure it out.

She showed up to his funeral. There was her, Leiko, so of course Akio, and the rest of the Aces. The town chief and his son stood besides the body wrapped in a sheet braided shut with ribbons, red and pink and orange to symbolize eternity and fate and bonds. There wasn't Eiji's father to stand besides the corpse, or his mother to cry and lament. Just Kyoko, the Aces, and the village chief and his son.

Kyoko watched as they lowered the body into the grave. She gave a glance to Leiko, muffling her silent crying with a hand in front of her mouth. Akio had his working arm around her, and she was leaning into the embrace.

Eiji made a dull thud when they dropped him in the hole. Kyoko felt like he was going to rip his way out of the sheet and jump to his feet, screaming and complaining, any second now.

Of course, that didn't happen. He stayed perfectly still, even as they covered him in dirt until the grave was filled.

The gravestone just read: Eiji, son of Daiko. Kyoko didn't ask why his father or mother didn't show up to Eiji's funeral. She wanted to know, but it felt out of place to ask. So she stood there and stared at the names for a while, long after everyone else had left.

"I don't get it," she said out loud.

There was still a deep sense of loss at the bottom of her stomach, heavy like lead. It didn't make sense.

"You're really dumb. You should have known this would happen."

She felt silly, talking to the grave like that. So she stopped. She just stared at it, hoping that it would make this strange pain leave. It didn't.

Eventually, the sun started setting, and it bathed the gravestone in a warm orange light. She stared at it, and wondered how it was that light could somehow find its way to him.


	3. Fuck Memories

Kyoko didn't drink a lot. It was sort of a miracle, considering the entourage she kept and the Caravaneer's love for alcohol, but she didn't enjoy the feeling of losing control. Sometimes, she made exceptions; this was one of them.

She'd cried during the entire ceremony, when Akio and Leiko had exchanged their vows. But it wasn't something that stemmed from despair, or from a deep pain. It was bittersweet, certainly, but she thought maybe it was more sweet than bitter. She'd watched happiness and peace in the Ace Commander's eyes, all-encompassing and unstoppable, and there was absolutely no way she could feel sad about that.

Leiko had shone like a fire, brighter than the sun, and still it nestled warmth between Kyoko's ribs. Truly, there was no way that she could feel anything besides happy watching these people she cared deeply for beaming, their smiles twinkling like the stars.

She looked over to them, their hands still intertwined. The party was already well underway, but Akio and Leiko had never untied the red scarf uniting them. Kyoko hadn't been to very many weddings, but what she did know about them was that usually, the couple would untie sometime during the reception.

It seemed fitting that the two Aces hadn't. She didn't even think they were doing it on purpose; rather, it seemed they'd simply forgotten that they were tied because they hadn't ever desired to separate. For a moment, Kyoko thought that tears would come back to prickle her eyes.

Instead, the Caraveneer came in and whisked her into a dance. She decided not to refuse him – partly because she didn't want to, and partly because she feared he'd fall over if she let him go.

* * *

"Akio!"

The groom turned to his bride, who gestured to two shots on the counter.

"One more!" she slurred.

His smile slashed his face in half, and Leiko took a moment to smash hers against his because she was overwhelmed by the sight. His hand at the small of her back, he brought her in and closer to him and deepened the kiss. She pulled away with a chuckle, and he watched with some sort of wonder the flush of her face and neck.

"If this is the state it puts you in, we should get married more often," Leiko purred.

"I love you," he said.

Her smile widened, so bright he thought that perhaps it would rob him of his sight – and then that if this was the way it happened, he didn't mind. Leiko reached up, to trace the shape of her husband's jaw with her index.

"I love you too," she said. Then, she turned to grab one of the tiny glasses behind her and hand it to him. "So do a shot with me."

Of course, he couldn't refuse her. He'd told himself he would match her alcohol consumption tonight, and so far it was going excellently. So he grabbed the glass between his fingers and she grabbed her own – they drank at the same time, and laid the glasses back on the counter simultaneously.

Leiko exclaimed "Woo!"

And for a moment, Akio thought that he might burst with how happy it made him.

* * *

Yuki took a break from dancing to get another drink. Haru stumbled to her side and lay with his back against the wall to steady himself. She almost didn't notice him because she was staring at Hana, on the other side of the large room, discussing with Kyoko's sister.

Haru slurred: "What's up?"

She glanced to him, camouflaging the unpleasant fold of her lips by raising her glass up and drinking from it.

"I'm so fucking angry, Haru."

She recognized that the alcohol made her say that. If she hadn't drunk, she'd have kept it to herself.

"Come on," the Cadet tried. "Forget about it for now, just have fun. It's a night for celebration! Akio and Leiko got married!"

He threw his hands up in celebration. Yuki downed her drink then and there.

"You're right! You're right."

And because he was so right, she grabbed his wrist and started dragging him back to the dance floor. Of course, she noticed his entire face flush red. It birthed a smirk on her lips.

"Come, dance with me."

He was too drunk to smile. But to make him happy on this day of celebration, she was willing to risk the vomit on her dress.

* * *

Later, once Haru had already passed out under a table, Yuki watched Leiko and Akio stumble together towards her. The Hammer wielder took Yuki's hand in hers and stared her in the eyes.

"Yuki, you're great. You're really great."

"Leiko, you're also great," Yuki drawled.

She reached up, to grab Leiko's face between her hands.

"Did I ever tell you how pretty you are?"

"I don't think so. But thank you," Leiko said. She also reached out her free hand to lay it against Yuki's cheek. "You're also super pretty. Have you ever looked at your eyes? Look at your fucking eyes, Yuki, they're so fucking beautiful. And your nose. It's so small and cute. You're so fucking pretty, Yuki. Who the fuck allowed this. Is this allowed? Is it allowed to be this fucking pretty?"

Yuki stared into her eyes and wobbled forward slightly.

"Look, Leiko," she said, "all I'm saying is: if you weren't married..."

Leiko stared at her. From behind, Akio breached the distance between himself and his wife and draped an arm around her shoulders to bring her closer to him. He nuzzled his chin in at the base of the curve of her neck, forcing Yuki to take her hands off of his wife, and stared Yuki in the eyes.

"Mine," he growled.

Heat surged to Leiko's cheeks with the widening of her eyes.

Yuki smirked: "You know, you're pretty hot too, Akio. I'm willing to compromise."

He frowned, then shook his head.

"I don't share."

Leiko wiggled against her husband's embrace, and he let her spin around to face him.

She slurred, her glassy eyes devouring him: "Babe. You and I... are gonna have to go."

"Home?" he questioned, eyebrow raised.

"No."

He didn't understand. Yuki did, so she faded to the background while giving Akio two thumbs up and a wink. At that, he understood. His eyes widened.

"Oh."

But before he could say anything else, his wife dragged him out of the room and to god knows where.

* * *

Dawn was settling along the horizon when the celebrations ended. On one side of the happy couple, Hideaki half-carried Akio, and on the other Hana half-carried Leiko. Wife and husband were struggling to put unsteady paces one in front of the other. They relied on each other for support (which really only meant that the Lancer and Gunner had to work harder).

Hideaki, a buzz still spinning his head, commented with a smirk: "They won't even remember the night of their own wedding."

Hana shrugged.

"They already have the memories that matter, don't they?"


End file.
